


The Deep Shadow

by GhastlyDisco



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Angst, F/F, Horror, Mystery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-03-16 20:44:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 13,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13644099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GhastlyDisco/pseuds/GhastlyDisco
Summary: Nicole is haunted by a deep shadow. It has terrorized her since childhood, and she now lives friendless and alone in the city.In the course of her work as a police officer, she glances rumors whispered in secret. Whispers of a town, a safe haven called Purgatory.The shadow only grows darker, and one day Nicole finally makes up her mind and drops everything to set out for Purgatory, her only hope…





	1. Chapter 1

Nicole opens the door to the pub, letting the howling wind in with her. It’s so strong she has trouble shutting the door behind her. A table of women holler as they’re showered with snow. The ruckus draws the attention of a server in the middle of taking an order, and she comes rushing to Nicole’s rescue. Together they force the door shut.

“I’m so sorry,” Nicole says, horrified, to the snow-coated patrons.

While they brush themselves down, one of them grumbles, “Looks like you owe us the next round of drinks.” Her friends agree.

“Oh, yeah, of course,” but her wallet isn’t in her pocket so she starts frantically rummaging through her duffel bag.

The server stops her by touching her arm. “Hey, ignore them. They’re just messing with you.”

Nicole—pulse still beating fast from being out in the storm—blinks at her. And when the women at the table erupt into laughter, she lets her breath go for the first time since coming inside.

“Hello?” calls the table whose order was interrupted. The waitress gives Nicole a sympathetic pat on the elbow before going back to work.

Now feeling her exhaustion, Nicole takes a seat at the bar, lets her entire weight droop over the counter. She looks over her shoulder back at the door just to be certain no one’s followed her. No one comes.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots the waitress glancing in her direction.

Then the bartender comes around. “Can I get you something?”

“I don’t drink,” says Nicole automatically. “Is there a hotel somewhere? Nothing seems to be marked on the,” she holds up her smartphone, “on the map.”

“There’s a motel a ways out of town, but you don’t wanna be driving in this weather this late. We’ve got a room upstairs, why don’t you talk to Waverly about that?” She turns around, “Waverly!” and the waitress comes over.

The bartender asks her to help Nicole, and takes Waverly’s order into the kitchen, which leaves Waverly and Nicole alone together at the bar.

“Can I get you anything to drink?” says Waverly.

For a second, Nicole’s eyes dart down toward her phone. The bar she’s in doesn’t show up on the GPS at all—the town is simply labelled  _Purgatory_  with no further detail. She has spent the whole day driving here, and a winding blue line still displays her route from the city out into the middle of nowhere. She looks back up at Waverly and says, “I’ll have a whisky. On the rocks.”

“Are you waiting for someone?” asks Waverly as she pours the drink, having noticed Nicole’s nervous glances toward the door.

“No, I’m on my own.”

She’s about to reach for her glass when Waverly leans closer and murmurs, “Are you being followed or something?”

“What?”

Her hushed voice has taken on an unmistakable tone of excitement. “Are you on the run? Is it the police? Are you a wanted woman—” She cuts herself off with a gasp. “Oh my god. It’s the mob, right? Do you owe them money?”

Nicole tries to keep from chuckling. “Yeah, totally. The infamous Canadian mafia.”

“A girl can dream,” Waverly pouts. “I mean, you’re not from around here.”

“How can you tell?” It’s not like she carries a lot of luggage. The duffel bag is all she brought.

“It’s a small town. Not a lot of people come through here,” responds Waverly. “There’s not a lot to see.”

“Really? I thought people would flock to this place…”

Waverly mistakes it for a joke and lets out a laugh. It takes Nicole by surprise—but she can’t help but smile with her.

“But you drove through the snow and everything? Are you visiting a relative, something like that?”

“No relative. Honestly I just wanted to find some peace and quiet.” She can tell by the look on her face that the waitress does not get it. “Everybody just wants to start over sometime, right?  _New town, new me,_  you know?”

Waverly stares at her for a moment, incredulous but a little fascinated too. Then she says, “Well, in case you don’t have a place to stay, I just moved out of the room upstairs. You can have it if you want.”

Nicole almost weeps at the thought of getting to lay down on a bed, having spent the whole day behind the wheel. “That sounds great. Thank you.”

“I’m just going to let Gus know.” She comes around the counter and walks over to the bartender who’s back from the kitchen and chatting with the table of women by the door. Her and Waverly exchange a few words. When Waverly returns she’s beaming. “All good!” She points at Nicole’s whisky, sitting untouched on the counter. “Do you want to finish that first? You can take it with you if you want.”

Before deciding, Nicole has a quick taste. Waverly giggles at her grimace.

* * *

The moment Waverly closes the door behind them, the talking from the bar below is cut down to a murmur. It’s replaced by the sound of the storm outside the bedroom window.

Nicole walks over and peeks out onto the street, but there’s no one there.

Behind her, Waverly sighs at the weather. “So, is Purgatory everything you hoped and dreamed?” she jokes.

But when Nicole turns back, she answers sincerely. “I didn’t exactly give myself a lot of time to think. This was a… spontaneous trip. Maybe the only spontaneous thing I’ve done in my life.” She throws her bag onto the bed, her jacket too. “I feel… the most free that I can remember.” She takes a moment to bask in it. Then she notices Waverly smiling at her.

Waverly blushes. “It shows. And it’s… kinda very cute.”

At that, Nicole feels her sleepy legs go a bit wobbly, but she doesn’t feel embarrassed like she did downstairs with the drinkers making fun of her. So she puts on a cocky smirk, takes a step forward. “Well, lucky you. You’ll probably be seeing a lot of me the next couple of days.”

She succeeds in making Waverly laugh. “And I’m Waverly by the way.”

Nicole guffaws in disbelief, then smiles at her own bad manners. “Sorry, I’m so exhausted I completely forgot to introduce myself. I’m Nicole.”

“Well, Nicole. At least you’re not too tired to flirt.”

“Never really been one for  **flirting** before  but…”

Waverly finishes her sentence for her, “ _New town, new me,_ ” and they both laugh at that.


	2. Chapter 2

Nicole runs along the city street like someone who’s being chased. Unlike the other inner-city joggers she runs past, she doesn’t wear headphones. She’s completely focused—desperate, almost. It’s fall. Her shoes slap the wet sidewalk with each step.

Out of nowhere, a cat sprints across the road, startling Nicole out of the memory and back to Purgatory. It’s winter. She takes a second to recover from the scare, her heavy breathing comes out as puffs of smoke. Then she resumes her run, snow creaking beneath her feet as she goes.

* * *

When she gets back to the pub where she’s staying, she finds Waverly sitting alone at the bar. Otherwise, the place is empty.

“Waverly!” says Nicole, an ecstatic smile appearing on her face even as she huffs, cheeks rosy from the cold. “You’re here early. Gus  isn’t here  yet.”

“I came to see you.” She hops off the bar stool, but Nicole drifts toward the staircase.

“I just went out for a jog. Let me take a quick shower and I’ll be right back.”

Waverly stops her before she can start up the stairs. “Wait Nicole. I need to talk to you.”

The hint of anticipation in her voice has Nicole pausing for a moment before she  comes  over. “Yeah, of course. What is it?”

“Were you at the police station today?”

“Yes I was. How did you know that?”

“I hang around there sometimes.  My dad was an officer. ”

“Really?” Waverly never spoke about her dad before. “I am too, back home.”

Waverly  cocks her head and gives  Nicole  a once-over as if seeing her for the first time. “Hm… I didn’t know that.”

“Why did your dad leave the force?”

“He died.”

“Oh Waverly, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”

But Waverly, in a hurry to move on, cuts her off. “I met the sheriff at the station just now. He said you’d come around asking a bunch of questions.”

“So he  **did** see me!” Nicole hits her palm against the counter. “I thought the receptionist said the sheriff was too busy to hear me out!”

“Nicole. Why did you go there?” There is that anticipation again, and it has Nicole feeling like she needs to give the correct answer—though she has no idea what that may be.

“I was looking for someone called Ward Earp. Do you know him?”

Waverly’s eyes widen. Seems like it  **was** the correct answer.

“I heard he might have some answers about… a problem I’ve been having—” She snaps her head toward one of the lamps flickering, but it’s stopped. Waverly doesn't seem to have noticed, but there’s no way she imagined it.

“What sort of problem?”

Nicole tries to think of a way to explain it. Behind her contemplative stare, she flashes back to a friend scrambling to get a door open to get away from her. Another memory has a girl reaching out to her, and Nicole jerking her hand away.

She’s pulled from her thoughts by the lamp flickering again. The sounds from outside start to reverberate—the rumbling of cars, the whistling wind, and the birdsong. It all sounds farther and farther away until Nicole feels as if the pub is being pulled from Purgatory and down into the earth.

“I, uh,” Nicole grabs onto the counter to steady herself. “I need to see Ward Earp.” Waverly does nothing to acknowledge the eerie noise. Does she even hear it?

“Nicole…” She hesitates, like she’s worried about how Nicole will react to what she’s about to say. “Ward Earp was my dad.”

The shadows on the floor drift together. Nicole staggers backward to the staircase.

“Where are you going?” says Waverly. Behind her, the shadows on the floor are melding, turning darker and darker.

Nicole, in complete fight-or-flight mode, runs up to her room and locks the door. She squeezes into the narrow gap between the closet and the foot of the bed, draws her knees up to her chin and watches the door.

As the noise pressing against the room crescendoes, the slits at the edges of the door gets blotted out. The room grows dimmer.

“Nicole!”

The sound of Waverly’s voice chases the unnatural shadow away, making it scatter like roaches from a flashlight. Nicole drops her shoulders.

The dark has receded, but the sound doesn’t stop. It drones on, and Nicole covers her ears with her hands, curls up tighter into the corner. She whispers through tears, “I hate you… You ruin everything… I hate you.”


	3. Chapter 3

It was the last night of summer camp. A thirteen-year-old Nicole sang and laughed with her friends, totally carefree, as if the night could’ve gone on forever.

On the other hand, there were the older kids in their final year of camp. They were gathered around a different fire, being instructed to turn in all the stuff that would be passed on to the new generation of campers.

One girl rose from the circle and went to sit down next to Nicole instead, making her go from boisterous laughter to bashful silence in an instant.

“Hi Nicole.” She hid it well, but in the cheery atmosphere her sad mood stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Hi.” Nicole tried to think of something to cheer her up. “I wanted to play that song we practiced the other day. The councillors keep hogging the guitar.”

“Oh?” The girl grabbed a marshmallow from the bag at Nicole’s feet and chucked it at a pair of teenagers who sat gazing into each others eyes, lazily strumming the guitar. “Hey! Why don’t you two get a room and let Nicole have a go.”

While she reached over to receive it, Nicole said, “There are so many songs I want to learn. I wrote them all down in a list. Can I show you later?”

“Yeah.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “If you learn them as quick as you learned this one, you’ll make it through that list in no time.” She sounded proud of her, but then she gave a regretful smile. “It sucks that I won’t be around to hear it.”

When Nicole started playing, and the two of them sang their duet, she couldn’t help but notice her friend getting worked up, belting it out at the top of her lungs as only someone on their last night of summer camp could.

* * *

“Nicole? Do you want me to call someone?” Waverly is still outside the door to the guest room, but Nicole doesn’t dare open for her.

“No, it’s fine. I just… don’t know how to explain it.” She stays curled up in the corner of the room. “You’ll just think I’m imagining it.”

“Nicole.” Her voice softens. “Whatever it is, you’re obviously feeling some very real feelings right now.”

“You don’t have to hang around just to talk it through with me.”

“But I  **want** to talk it through with you, Nicole. I want to help.“ There’s a thump that tells Nicole that Waverly has slid down onto the floor. “You can trust me.”

Nicole wraps her arms tightly around herself. She wants so badly to go over and open the door.

Finally, she squeezes her eyes shut and goes for it. “Sometimes it’s like I’m being… stalked. By a… deep, deep shadow.“

A moment of silence.

Then Waverly asks, slowly, “Could you tell me what would happen if it caught up to you?”

Nicole covers her face with her hands. “I can’t. I can’t. It’s gross.” She whispers, “I get so gross.”

* * *

Nicole’s friend found her among the stream of campers headed back to their cabins and grabbed her hand. Wordlessly, she started leading her in the other direction, deeper into the woods. Nicole followed without question.

When they came out the other side of the forest, there was the church right next to the parking lot where their parents had dropped them off at the start of camp. Nicole thought she saw something move inside the graveyard. She followed her friend, slipping in between the church gates, but she made sure to walk behind as they wandered among the headstones together.

“This place is creepy,” said the girl.

As she said it, an eerie rumbling sound made Nicole turn around—only to feel the darkness beneath her feet reach up and latch onto her body.

But the sting of it quickly faded, leaving Nicole wondering if she’d imagined it. Nothing else seemed wrong, except her limbs felt a bit stiff. She tripped and almost fell over.

All embarrassed, she sputtered, “I’m not scared.” The scene got a laugh out of her friend, which dispelled the eeriness.

“You’re right, it’s not so bad as long as you’re here.” Nicole’s ears grew hot. “Plus, I’m pretty sure I’d fit in here much better than I’m gonna fit in at high school.” Nicole didn’t expect that. “I have this one friend, she’s decided she has to get a boyfriend freshman year.”

She said nothing. Just kept her eyes to the ground, scratching an itch on her arm.

“Do you have a crush, Nicole?”

The itch grew worse, so Nicole pulled up her sleeve to have a look.

She stopped in her tracks.

Her skin was covered with dead, white moss. Like a layer of prickly scabs.

She could only stare at it.

“Nicole?” Nicole quickly covered her arm back up. “It’s alright. You can tell me if you have one.”

Still reeling from what she’d just seen, Nicole blubbered, “Did it just get darker?” She could only vaguely make out her friend’s face, but she thought she saw her taking note of Nicole’s abrupt change of topic.

“I can still see okay.” She held her hand out for Nicole to take. “Here, I’ll help you.”

But Nicole instinctively pulled her hand behind her back. There was a flash of hurt on the other girl’s face before she turned away and kept on walking.

* * *

“Nicole, there’s something I need to tell you. Don’t be scared, okay?”

That definitely makes Nicole tense, but she squeaks out, “Okay.”

She hears Waverly take a deep breath. Then she says, “I was little when my dad died, so I don’t remember much. When I used to ask people what happened, everyone would tell me different causes. No one would give me a straight answer.”

Nicole listens with rapt attention.

“Now, this could just be a coincidence… But I have this one memory of him, when he locked himself in and wouldn’t come out because he was going to get  _swallowed up_.”

“Swallowed up?”

Waverly hesitates to continue. Nicole tries her best to remember not to be scared.

“Like, sucked into a deep shadow,” says Waverly.

In her mind’s eye, Nicole imagines Ward Earp trapped inside a stony block of white moss with only his head sticking out. She imagines his face frozen in a silent scream as the moss spreads and encases him completely.

When Nicole doesn’t say anything, Waverly asks, “Is that what you came to talk to him about?”

She’s rocking back and forth. She’s going to die. She’s going to die. Her voice breaks as she speaks. “It’s already taken so much.”

“It doesn’t mean it will happen to you, Nicole!” Nicole isn’t convinced. “We could try asking around again. Maybe I didn’t know to ask the right questions, you know?” She’s talking a mile a minute, trying to comfort Nicole somehow. “I don’t even know for sure that it’s the reason he… I want to find out too. We can find out together.”

It’s the only hint of the truth Nicole has had, and the first she’s ever heard of someone else dealing with the same thing. She doesn’t want to die. She needs Waverly’s help.

A while later, when Nicole finally opens the door, Waverly shoots to her feet. She sees Nicole’s tear-streaked face and pulls her into a hug, and Nicole lets herself melt into the embrace, lets herself be comforted. She doesn’t pull away.


	4. Chapter 4

Copies of faded old newspaper spreads are laid out on Nicole’s bed along with an assortment of notebooks. She finishes packing her bag with everything her and Waverly decided to bring today.

Suddenly, a knock on her door. “Nicole, it’s me,” announces Waverly in her usual cheery way.

“Be out in a minute. I’m almost ready.” She’s been ready for a while. But she still rushes to the mirror just to make sure…

A moment later, she stops herself right at the door and tucks her shirt in.

* * *

“Only two people left on the list,” says Nicole, sitting in the passenger seat, flipping through a notepad. “There’s Gus. She’ll be back in town by Friday, right?”

“Yeah. The hurricane isn’t supposed to arrive in a couple weeks, but she wanted to be on the safe side.”

“Alright. That only leaves the sheriff, then we’re done for interviews.”

There’s a troubled look on Waverly’s face as she pulls out onto the street. “Are you sure there isn’t someone else?”

Nicole shakes her head. “There weren’t that many on the list to begin with.” She gives a hopeful look. “Unless you happen to have any more acquaintances old enough to remember Ward?”

“Not that I can think of…” Waverly sighs dejectedly, making Nicole squint at her. Why doesn’t she want to go?

At last, she turns her truck toward the police station.

* * *

She catches the receptionist rolling his eyes when Waverly enters the station. Then she notices how Waverly takes a moment to put on a friendly smile before walking up to the desk.

“Hi Ted.”

“Earp.” He pointedly keeps looking at his computer screen.

She turns to Nicole and gives her an embarrassed look, as if apologizing for the awkwardness.

She turns back. “Does the sheriff have a minute?”

The receptionist glances up at Nicole. It’s the same guy she talked to when she came by last week. He regards her for a moment, but she can’t tell whether he remembers her or not. Finally, he waves his hand at them and says, “Yeah sure, go see if he’s free.”

Waverly’s smile doesn’t seem to be all the way there when she starts to lead the way to the sheriff’s office. Would she have been let in so easily if she’d come here alone? She doesn’t see the frown on Nicole’s face as she follows behind.

The door to the office is open. Waverly gives it a light knock to get the sheriff’s attention, and he looks up, pen in hand and wearing a pair of reading glasses.

“Hi Nedley.”

“Earp.” He doesn’t seem to notice Nicole hover in the doorway at all, and so goes right back to his paperwork.

When Waverly doesn’t leave, he sighs and looks back up.

“What is it?” he growls. Then he finally sees Nicole. “And who the hell is this?”

Nicole shrinks back toward the open door, but Waverly bravely keeps on.

“This is my friend Nicole. She’s staying at  _Shorty’s_ .  We were wondering if you had a moment—”

“Waverly, I’ve told you a million times, I don’t have time to chat with you. Can’t you see I’m trying to run a goddamned sheriff’s office here?”

As Nicole’s stunned by just how intensely  **grumpy** the man is, Waverly blurts out, “It’s about Dad.”

For just a split second, Nedley seems  taken aback . But then he hardens.

“I’m busy.”

Nicole looks down at his paperwork and sees that it’s a crossword puzzle.

She decides to speak up. “Is there at least some archived reports or something we could just have a look at?” She opens up her notepad. “In case you’ve kept any records from—”

“Who the hell do you think you are? Get out! Both of you! Get out!”

* * *

Back at the reception, Waverly mutters, “I’m sorry.”

Nicole is confused. “What? Waverly you haven’t done anything wrong. The sheriff’s a dick.” She reaches her hand out to lay on her shoulder, but pulls it  back—she needs to remind herself Purgatory is not the safe zone she’s been told it is.

Waverly hangs her head. “When I said I come around here sometimes, I didn’t say they wanted me here…”

That’s all it takes for Nicole to try and gather her courage to comfort her, but  before she can do anything, Waverly moves back in the direction of Nedley’s room.

“I have to try one last time.”

“Waverly…”

“Just wait here, I’ll be right back.” And she’s gone.

With nothing to do but wait, Nicole leans back against the wall. She can’t help but overhear the receptionist chatting with another policeman.

“Earp’s kid just came in again.”

A groan. “And I was starting to get used to not having her here. And not having to drink her terrible coffee.”

“At this point I just feel bad for her.”

Nicole clenches her fist.

“I don’t. I’m tiring myself out just letting her hang around. Just because her dad used to be sheriff? Give me a break.”

Having heard enough, Nicole pushes off the wall. She thinks she knows the thing to do.

* * *

Waverly walks out of the station with her shoulders slumped. Nicole notices tears gleaming in her eyes as she climbs in beside her in the truck. “I’m sorry. This was a waste of time.”

“No it wasn’t,” says Nicole.

Waverly’s brow furrows, and when she turns her head toward Nicole, her eyes grow wide.

In Nicole’s lap sits a large cardboard box—full to bursting with reports and documents.

“Who gave you that?”

“You think I haven’t done my fair share of paperwork?” She fails to hold back her mischievous grin, making Waverly gasp in delight.

“Oh my God, did you—?”

She nods triumphantly. “Totally did.” Seeing Waverly smile again makes her heart soar.

Waverly revs up the truck. “Let’s go to my place. Right now.”

Nicole’s grin slides right off.


	5. Chapter 5

Nicole rose from the crowd of high schoolers gathered on the bedroom floor.

“It’s getting late. I should head home.”

“No, don’t go yet,” pleaded one of her friends, one dressed in ripped jeans and flannel. She came over and tugged on Nicole’s arm to rejoin them.

Nicole looked around at the others, and the different stuff they’d brought to drink. Then she looked down at her own bottle of beer, at its label all in Dutch, with a sketch of an angry owl for a logo. When she’d snuck it out of the house, she’d been nauseous with guilt. But it looked so badass, and she’d look like a badass bringing it.

So of course it had turned out to be non-alcoholic.

That night, Nicole had learned how much it sucked to be the only one sober at a party of drunk teenagers. “We can hang out more once summer vacation starts,” she tried to protest.

“But I’m going to Florida with my parents.” Oh God, she was making puppy eyes at her.

Nicole allowed herself to be dragged back to her seat on the floor—now with the girl clinging to her side.

They resumed their game of spin the bottle, and Nicole eventually found the bottle—and everyone’s eyes—landing on the two of them. Everyone started shouting out dares.

“Smell her fart!”

“Seven minutes in heaven!”

At the last one, the girl gave her a pat and said, “Okay. Come on Nicole.”

It wasn’t completely dark inside the closet. A tiny gap let in enough light that they could still see each other.

“How are you holding up? Having fun?”

“Yeah,” Nicole hurried to say. “It’s just that my parents don’t like it when I come home too late.”

“But you don’t think…” She fidgeted nervously with her flannel shirt. “You don’t think seven minutes in heaven with a girl is boring?”

Nicole cleared her throat. “Um. No I don’t—” She broke out suddenly in a gnarly coughing fit.

“Are you okay?”

Nicole reached up to dislodge something stuck to the roof of her mouth. It didn’t come away easy, and when it finally gave, she grunted in pain. With a trembling hand, she held it up to the light to see what it was.

It was a pebble of the rock-solid moss, gleaming red with spit and blood from where it’d grown out of her.

They both stared at it in disgust. Then the other girl scrambled for the door so fast she almost fell on her way out.

* * *

They sit on the living room carpet going through all the documents from the sheriff’s archive, with files and folders strewn all over the floor. Nicole keeps glancing up at Waverly. She can’t stop thinking about their visit to the station. Do they all see Waverly as a nuisance?

That's what Waverly seems to believe, in any case.

Finally, she opens her mouth to speak—but she thinks better of it. How can she tell Waverly to be brave when she herself lives in constant fear?

“Nicole, what is it?” Waverly is watching her, searching her face.

“I was just wondering… Why do you go to the station? I mean, is Nedley always that mad?”

Waverly unconsciously creases the corner of the file she’s holding. “To be honest… It’s mostly that I don’t have any friends anywhere else. Gus likes her alone time. And everyone close to my age moved away.”

“Have you ever wanted to move too?”

She contemplates for a moment. “I think so. But it feels like it’d be a failure if I did that.”

“Why?” Nicole sweeps a few papers out of the way and scoots closer.

“A couple years ago, my uncle went with my sister to go get her inheritance. Then, after a while, they sent us a letter saying they weren’t coming home.”

Nicole can tell from the trembling in her voice that she’s probably kept this pent up for a long time. Then Waverly looks up at her.

“Did you leave someone behind? When you came here?”

“No one.”

She looks away. “They both had plenty of reasons not to come back. They always hated it here. But I just… could’ve really used a sister, you know?”

Nicole wraps an arm around her, and Waverly folds into her chest and cries.

For a few minutes, Nicole rubs her back soothingly. And after her sobs have subsided, Waverly lets out a big sigh as if she’s been relieved of a heavy burden.

However, the moment Nicole’s thoughts stray from the warmth of Waverly’s body, she remembers seven minutes in heaven. And she flies off of Waverly in an instant.

Papers are sent flying from the rush of movement, and while they rustle and slide into the corners of the room, Waverly can only stare at Nicole in hurt and confusion.

* * *

Nicole waited for them by the school entrance.

“Hey guys,” she greeted as her friends walked right past her. “How was Florida?”

She didn’t get a response. Instead, another one of her friends turned around and told her, “You should’ve come last week, Nicole.”

“Last week?”

“No one asked you to come?”

Realization dawned on Nicole’s face. “No,” she said around the lump in her throat.

“Oh. They must’ve forgot… Look, I’ll see you after class okay?”

“Okay,” Nicole mumbled, but she was already left alone again.

They did not meet up with her after class.

* * *

Nicole has moved to sit on the couch, away from Waverly still reading on the living room floor. There’s an awkward silence between them now and it won’t go away.

Outside, the wind picks up. It has the windows rattling, and Nicole snaps her head toward the sound.

“I should head back before we get snowed in.”

Waverly glances carefully toward her. “If you want you could… stay the night?” Bites her lip in anticipation.

Nicole swallows. It’s an invitation for her to undo the awkwardness, for them to just forget about it.

But there is no doubt in her mind that if she stays, Waverly will finally see those grossest sides of her.

“No that’s fine… We can just go through the rest after the hurricane has passed through.” That makes it several weeks before they see each other again.

Waverly rises to her feet without looking at her. “I’ll drive you back to _Shorty’s_.”

Out by the door, Nicole realizes how late it’s gotten. It’s almost dark outside. And, except for the living room, all the lights are off.

The house seems to stretch out infinitely in front of them. She pictures Waverly alone in this house that’s way too big for one person, with the snow piling up outside, waiting for the storm to die down…

“Waverly.”

She’s in the middle of putting her coat on. “Yeah?”

“Maybe it’s better if I stayed.”

Waverly smiles like a ray of sunshine. That’s all it took—all is forgotten.


	6. Chapter 6

A full-blown snowstorm rages on outside, and they’ve got a fire going in the living room fireplace to stave off the cold. Waverly and Nicole sit and read together on the sofa, leaning comfortably against one another.

Nicole tries to concentrate, but she feels so cozy she has trouble keeping her eyes open. “This reminds me of summer camp a little bit. I mean the fire, not the snow.”

“You went to summer camp?” Waverly sits up with a delighted look on her face. “I always wondered what that’d be like.”

“You don’t have it here?”

Waverly shakes her head. “You’ve got to tell me all about it!”

So Nicole puts the police report down on the living room table and starts to recount some of her favorite memories. She talks about games with her friends, marshmallows round the campfire, and how she learned to play guitar. Waverly is completely captivated by Nicole’s blissful tone in reliving her life before the haunting.

“Sounds like an adventure,” says Waverly wistfully.

“It is. At least when you’re like, eleven.”

“Speak for yourself,“ Waverly snarks. ”The biggest adventure I’ve ever been on happened before I was even self-aware.”

“And what was that?”

“I was born in Europe, and my birthparents took me here right away. Right across the ocean. That’s what my sister told me.”

“You’re adopted?”

Waverly shrugs. “Yeah. I don’t think about it that often.”

“Huh.” Nicole sits back and looks into the fire, and Waverly takes the opportunity to cuddle close, lays her head on her shoulder.

“I’ve always known I want to go travelling at some point in my life,” says Waverly. “It’s just that this town has a way of putting out your spirit…”

“I’ll go with you, if you want. When all this is over.”

“You would? What about your peace and quiet?”

“If I make it out of this alive, I think I can squeeze in just one more adventure.”

When she receives a grateful squeeze, Nicole suddenly becomes acutely aware of how close their bodies are pressed together, and she has to fight the part of her that’s automatically relaxed into the half embrace. She starts fidgeting with a cushion on her other side.

“We… uh… could probably use some more firewood.”

“I think there’s some out in the shed. But I’m not going out there anytime soon.”

“Maybe I could go. It’ll be cold without the fire.”

She feels Waverly’s finger start tracing circles against her collarbone.

“Or you could stay here with me…”

Nicole gulps.

The fire flickers as if someone walked past it. And then Nicole feels it before she sees it—her hand beginning to transform, turning an ugly shade of gray as it’s gradually overgrown.

She throws herself off the couch, trips over, and bangs her arm against the table on her way down to the floor.

“Oh my God, Nicole!” Waverly’s beside her in an instant. “Are you okay?”

Her arm feels numb. Her face begins to turn colder and colder despite her blushing in embarrassment. “I’m fine.” She’s in the middle of pushing herself into a sitting position but can’t do it without Waverly seeing her face, so she stays prone.

“What happened?”

She tries to take Nicole’s hand, but Nicole snatches it away.

“Nothing.”

“Nicole, what’s going on with you? Is it the **thing**? You’d tell me if it’s getting worse, right?”

She doesn’t answer, just keeps her face turned away.

“Because ever since Dad died, since my sister left… You’re the best thing that’s happened to me in so long, Nicole. I don’t know what I’d do if you left me too.”

“Waverly, please…”

But when Waverly reaches for her hand this time, she can’t bring herself to move. Nicole can’t see her reaction, but there’s a quiet gasp when Waverly feels the coarse layer of moss on her skin. Nicole expects her to pull away in disgust, but instead Waverly keeps her hold on her and doesn’t let go.

Then, with her other hand, she gently turns Nicole toward her by the chin. Their eyes finally meet, and tears start down Nicole’s granite-colored cheeks.

“Nicole…”

She tries to move away, but Waverly strokes her thumb over her hand until she grows still.

“Waverly, you don’t have to—”

“I’m not leaving.” And that’s that. She leans closer and presses a kiss to where Nicole’s skin is still visible on her forehead.

It’s the most loving gesture she’s experienced in her life, and it makes Nicole cry even harder.

The moss beneath Waverly’s hand begins to melt away. So she keeps kissing her face, and Nicole’s skin becomes uncovered there too.

A few more caresses, and it’s all gone for now. Nicole takes a couple deep breaths, her airway unobstructed. Waverly doesn’t move an inch.

So Nicole kisses her.

And Waverly kisses back.

Her hands go to Nicole’s hair, brushes along her jaw. Nicole falls onto her back and ends up with Waverly on top of her.

Eventually, Waverly breaks for air. “Let’s go to bed,” she says breathlessly.

It takes a moment for Nicole’s mind to catch up. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. If you want to.”

“I do.”


	7. Chapter 7

When at last they come back inside the house, they’re sweaty and exhausted.

“I’m sorry our first date together was a snow shoveling date,” Waverly apologizes as she takes her gloves off.

Nicole removes her beanie. “I’m totally spent.” Her hair sticks to her face, but she looks like she’s never been happier.

  
“What are you smiling for?” It’s contagious, and Waverly starts smiling too.

“Am I not allowed to be happy?”

They linger in the entrance, standing there just grinning at one another, high on endorphins from the workout and on each other.

Waverly nearly gets the giggles, gives Nicole a light shove. “You’re a goof.”

She takes off her boots and her jacket, then goes to the staircase toward her room.

“I’ll find you a change of clothes.” And she disappears up the stairs.

Nicole bends down to untie her boots. But the moment she starts thinking about showering, she goes completely still. What will she do if Waverly wants to—?

She’s roused from her thoughts, however, at the sound of a terrible rattling noise from upstairs. She quickly finishes taking off her boots and hangs up her jacket before following after Waverly.

She finds her in her bedroom in front of an old wardrobe, violently wriggling a key around in the keyhole.

“Oh come on! I’m way too tired for this.”

“Waves, what are you doing?”

She gestures dejectedly at the wardrobe. “It’s ancient. The lock is probably rusted or worn down or something.”

Nicole stares at her, incredulous. “You lock your wardrobe?”

“Yeah, why? Don’t you?” She’s serious.

“Not unless I’m keeping something valuable in there.”

“No, it’s nothing like that. Dad just always reminded us to keep it locked.” She can tell that Nicole thinks it’s odd. “It’s nice not to have a bunch of clothes lying on the floor, isn’t it?”

Nicole walks over. “Well, you didn’t seem to have a problem with that last night,” she says with a playful wink.

Waverly actually snorts with laughter. “You  **are** in a good mood, huh.” Honestly, even Nicole is surprised by herself.

Then Nicole reaches for the key, turns it once, and unlocks it on her first try.

“Thanks babe.” Waverly stands on her toes and kisses Nicole on the cheek.

She tries not to let her nerves show when she asks, “So, do  **you** want to shower first or…”

* * *

Later, when Waverly comes back from her shower, she finds Nicole sitting on the bed—hair still dripping and wearing some of her sister’s old clothes—with something she found in the wardrobe.

Nicole looks up from the smallish wooden chest. “Sorry, I wasn’t going through your stuff, I promise. Just couldn’t help noticing this thing.”

“It’s okay. But I don’t have the key that goes with it,” says Waverly. “My sister inherited something Dad didn’t even keep in Purgatory, and I inherited something that doesn’t even have a key.”

“Your dad’s will didn’t say what was in it?”

Waverly plops down on the bed beside her. “Sounds like something heavy inside, doesn’t it? Maybe it’s a piece of gold.”

The poor old house creaks and whistles as a gust of wind blows through it. It decidedly does not sound like the house of someone who owns gold.

“Maybe….”

On the bedside table, Waverly’s phone starts ringing. She reaches over to grab it, and when she sees the caller ID she furrows her brow.

“It’s Nedley.”

Waverly takes the call.

“Hello Nedley.” She listens for a few moments as the sheriff talks. Then she hears something that makes her jaw suddenly drop and her eyes go wide.

Nicole mouths, “What happened?” hoping nothing’s the matter with Gus or  _Shorty’s_.

But Waverly is speechless. It’s only when Nicole touches her shoulder that she shakes her head to clear it and answers into the phone, “Yeah. On my way,” before hanging up.

“Waves, what is it?”

Waverly just sits with the phone in her lap.

“They’ve arrested Wynonna. They’ve got her at the station.”

Nicole blinks. “Who’s Wynonna?”

* * *

Because of all the snow, it’s past lunchtime when they finally arrive at the police station. And there she is—Wynonna sitting in her cell behind a set of bars. She defiantly ignores the sheriff as he unlocks the door and slides it open.

A few moments pass, but she doesn’t move a muscle despite the open door. Nedley sighs and turns to Waverly for assistance. But Waverly can only stare. She looks like she can’t believe her sister is right in front of her.

Unsure of what to do, Nicole hangs back as Waverly steps inside the cell.

“Wynonna?”

When she hears her voice, Wynonna’s head darts up immediately, and she gets to her feet to envelop Waverly in a hug.

Instead, she receives a slap across the cheek.

“How dare you come back here.” Tears start streaming down Waverly’s face.

“Well thanks for the warm welcome home. You look good, Sis—”

“You just went and disappeared! Dad died and you  **left me**! ”

“I didn’t come to explain myself to you, and definitely not to make excuses—”

Waverly screams, “You were all I had!”

Wynonna goes quiet, and she turns her eyes away.

Nicole notices Nedley hanging his head as well, perhaps in shame. She can’t bear to see Waverly just standing there crying, so she finally steps in to comfort her.

“Shit!” Wynonna backs away from Nicole as if a skunk has entered the room.

Alarmed, Nedley puts his hand on his gun but doesn’t see anything wrong.

“ Stay the  hell away from me!”

Waverly and Nicole both give her puzzled looks.

“You have it too, don’t you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the playlist I made when I first came up with the fic:
> 
> "I Know A Place" — MUNA
> 
> "Superstition" — The Birthday Massacre
> 
> "Tongue Tied" — Shura
> 
> "Favourite Colour" — Carly Rae Jepsen
> 
> "The River" — Ladyhawke


	8. Chapter 8

“Just tell me where it is!”

Wynonna has gone through nearly every corner of the homestead. She’s finished turning her father’s old room completely upside down, and now she sets her course for Waverly’s room.

“You got Dad’s chest in here or what?”

With Nicole in tow, Waverly catches up to her sister, and at the last second she throws her body in front of the doorway. “Why won’t you just tell me what’s inside it?”

“Because you’re better off not knowing,” grunts Wynonna and tries to push her aside—which she fails to do. “Damn baby girl, have you been working out?”

“You can have it on  **one** condition.”

Nicole, who’s standing to the side, casts Waverly a questioning look. She has no idea what Waverly’s condition would be.

Wynonna raises an eyebrow. “What is it.”

“Promise you’ll help Nicole.”

Nicole stops breathing, and then she turns very nervously toward Wynonna for her answer.

Wynonna says, “How about  you— ”

She points at Waverly.

“—hand over Dad’s chest.”

She points to herself.

“And I’ll hop back across the pond—”

She wiggles her fingers like they’re walking.

“—so I can help Uncle Curtis first. And  **then** , if that works out, maybe I’ll come back for Ms. Stranger Comes to Town. How about that? ”

Waverly looks like she could explode. She turns on her heel and stomps over to her bedroom window and opens it up. She whips out the key to her wardrobe for her sister to see.

“Is that…?” Wynonna gestures toward the wardrobe.

Waverly nods furiously in response. Then she throws it out the window as hard as she can, into the sea of blinding white snow where it’ll be pretty much impossible to find until the snow thaws.

The whole thing has Nicole a bit stunned. But not Wynonna. She goes to the wardrobe and grips the handle, and like Houdini, pulls the door wide open.

“What?” yells Waverly. “But… You saw me lock it before, right Nicole?”

Wynonna starts digging through her clothes, dumping them out on the bedroom floor. After a while she gets to the bottom, but she still hasn’t found anything.

“It’s not here! You bluffed?” Wynonna looks at her sister incredulously. “Waverly, you dropped the key to your wardrobe. What were you planning to wear?”

“I didn’t think about  **that** ! Don’t you get it? Nicole’s life is on the line.”

But Wynonna’s expression hardens. “It’s Curtis’s life too. And between him and this stranger I met literally an hour ago,” she shrugs in Nicole’s direction, “I’m gonna have to choose Curtis.”

Before either Waverly or Nicole can get a word in, Wynonna reaches back into Waverly’s wardrobe and pulls out a shotgun.

“Didn’t want to have to do this.”

She doesn’t have to aim it at Nicole for her to get the hint.

“Whoa! Wait!” She jumps back, throwing her hands up in front of her.

“Wynonna! What the hell!”

“I want her out of here!”

Nicole gets chased all the way down the stairs and out the front door.  Waverly runs after but wisely keeps her hands off of Wynonna while she’s armed.

On her way down the front porch, Nicole trips and falls hard onto the snow-coated ground.

“Nicole!”

Both Waverly and Wynonna wait for her to get up. All three of them are jacketless and shaking from the cold. But Nicole remains facedown.

Then suddenly, there’s a crashing thunder from above. It draws their eyes toward the sky where dark clouds form out of nothing.

The sun gets completely blotted out in a matter of seconds.

Their attention is pulled back to Nicole when she starts coughing harshly, like she’s coughing up gravel. She tries to get up, but her arms and legs are glued to the ground by stale moss.

“Shit!” Wynonna curses, panic rising in her eyes. “Shitting fuckshit!”

There’s more thunder—but no lightning. It’s only afternoon, but it’s as dark as the middle of the night.

Waverly rushes over to Nicole and gets down on the ground in front of her.

The overgrowth is spreading. Half her head is encased in it, including her face and her hair. Her eyes, watery from coughing, drift this way and that as if she’s fighting to stay conscious.

Waverly lifts her face in her hands, snaps her fingers in front of her. “Nicole. Hey, look at me! It’s going to be okay.” She manages to hold Nicole’s gaze. “I’m right here, baby.”

It’s getting darker by the minute.

“I’m scared,” Nicole wheezes.

“I know,” says Waverly, biting back her own tears. She’s never seen it get this bad before. “We’ve got this. We beat it once.”

“Look… If I don’t make it—”

“Nicole, no.”

“—I just need to tell you—”

“You’ll make it through this.”

“—that I love you, Waverly.”

They only get a handful more seconds to look into each other’s eyes before it gets completely pitch-black.

Then Waverly, with only her touch to guide her, leans in and kisses Nicole’s lips.

The clouds dissolve like turning on a lamp. Both Waverly and Nicole keep their eyes shut against the blinding sunlight for a moment before they finally part. When they do, Nicole is restored to her usual self.

“What the hell?” shrieks Wynonna from behind them. She walks closer, with one hand shielding her eyes. “I don’t believe it.”

“Well, if you had just listened—”

“You got a  **girlfriend** ? In  **this** town?”

Waverly groans.

* * *

Nicole helps carrying Ward Earp’s chest from the truck and inside the house.

In the living room, Wynonna has lit the fireplace. And when Nicole puts the chest down on the table, all three of them gather round it—Wynonna in the big chair, and Waverly and Nicole on the sofa.

“ I don’t have the key,” says Waverly.

Wynonna doesn’t say anything, just places her hand on the lid and pushes it open as easily as she opened the wardrobe.

“How did you do that?” Nicole asks.

But Wynonna’s full attention is focused on Waverly who bends forward to peer at the contents.

Parchments, writing ink, quills… Waverly picks up an old photograph, and when she realizes who the people in it are, she gasps and hands it over to show Nicole.

The photo is of a young couple, a man and a woman, holding a baby between them. Nicole guesses it must be her birthparents.

“They look so happy…” says Waverly with her head back in the chest trying to find more photos.

But Nicole doesn’t think they look happy at all. They’re frowning, like they know somehow that they won’t be able to keep their kid.

“Before it was Dad’s chest,” says Wynonna, “it belonged to  your birthparents .”

“What did you come to get from it?”

Wynonna reaches in, and what she pulls out is not a piece of gold like Waverly guessed—it’s an enormous revolver with ornate scripture engraved into the barrel. It looks totally occult.

“I came to get this. Listen, I can stay for a couple of weeks, try some things and see if we can get rid of  your  shade. But I want to go back and help Curtis as soon as I can—”

“Where is he?”

Wynonna braces herself. “He’s being kept. In a place called Azkaban.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that's the AU this is. Question is, should I put it in the tags or not?


	9. Chapter 9

The baby was woken up by the bloodcurdling screams coming from upstairs. Curtis tried to rock it back to sleep, but the baby didn’t stop crying even after the screams stopped.

After a few more minutes, Ward Earp stumbled down the stairs, tears staining his face. Curtis, still carrying the baby, hurried to the bottom of the stairs to meet him.

“Ward, how’d it go?” he barked.

“They’re dead. Both of them.” Ward’s voice was strangled. “The Brits are dead.”

The baby kept up its loud crying. It only cried louder when Curtis kicked the side of the staircase.

“How the fuck! Didn’t ya cast the spell?”

Ward’s legs were shaking so bad he had to sit down on one of the bottom steps. “I gave them the potion. I cast the spell… It didn’t  work ,” he sobbed into his hand. Then his head snapped up, wide-eyed. “And it  **touched** me, Curtis.”

“What touched you?”

He started to grasp anxiously at Curtis’s arm. He rambled, “It was so dark. My God, it was so dark.”

Curtis shoved him off—his patience was running out quick. He left Ward on the stairs and stomped into the kitchen.

On the counter stood a smallish wooden chest, and travel papers lay scattered around it. With the baby on one arm, Curtis started to shove the evidence back inside using his free hand.

“We can’t let the Aurors find out about this. If they knew the vigilante you’ve been, they’d put ya in cuffs no doubt. I’ll find someplace to burn the poor bastards’ stuff, then we can send the baby away—”

He hadn’t noticed Ward following him into the room. Before Curtis could grab the chest to go destroy it, Ward slammed his hand down on top.

“No. Let me make this right.”

But Curtis had had enough. “Damn it Ward! You should’ve never let those damn Brits into your home! If that wife of yours was still around, she woulda never allowed it! A haunting like that—”

“Well she isn’t my wife anymore!” Ward cut in. “You don’t get it! I  **had** to help.”

The baby wouldn’t stop screaming.

He unholstered a revolver hanging from his belt, held it up to show the magic runes engraved in the steel.

“People come to Purgatory because it’s supposed to be  **safe** . I promised to keep it safe, and they count on me to keep my word!”

“You’ve obviously bitten off more than you can chew!”

The baby finally tired itself out, making Curtis’s words sound infinitely loud in the sudden quiet. Both men looked down at the child, and the child blinked back up at them. Curtis’s anger seemed to melt away a little.

“Let me make this right, Curtis,” pleaded Ward. “Little Waverly will be safe with me and Wynonna, I promise. I’ll never let this happen again. I promise.”

* * *

“A couple years after your parents came, Dad died too,” says Wynonna. “And when he died, that’s how the rest of us found out that the shade was loose. All the magic users in Purgatory moved away.”

Nicole and Waverly both sit on the sofa, but while Nicole listens intently, Waverly just stares blankly into the burning fireplace.

“Curtis has been the haunted one a couple of years now. That’s why we had to leave Purgatory. We had to go search for a cure.” Wynonna leans to the side in the big chair, angles her head to try and catch Waverly’s eye.

But to no avail.

“We didn’t leave  **just** for Curtis’s sake though,” she tries. “He was a ticking time bomb. If he would’ve died, I’m pretty sure the nearest person for the shade to latch onto would’ve been me.”

Waverly ignores her as if to say, Go ahead and become haunted for all I care.

“So how do you get rid of it?” asks Nicole.

“I don’t know dude. We’ve tried everything. In Dad’s will, he gave me a house up north where all our family artifacts are stored. That’s where me and Curtis left to, but we found jack shit up there that was of any help.”

Nicole feels Waverly wordlessly grasp her hand. She turns around to look at her, but Waverly’s gaze doesn’t move away from the fireplace.

Wynonna tries to speak to Waverly again. “By then, Curtis wasn’t looking too good… Poor guy, he had it so rough.” Despite her arrogance earlier, it sounds a lot like an apology. “So we had to go to England. Where your parents came from. Where the shade came from.”

It doesn’t exactly sound like an accusation, but Waverly rises from the sofa and moves away from them. She sits down on the floor in front of the fireplace—her face never once showing a hint of emotion.

Nicole can tell that Waverly wants space, but at the same time her heart aches to go to her side. She’s never seen Waverly shut down like this before.

* * *

Ward was only faintly aware of his daughter banging on the door outside.

“Dad! Please come out! You’re scaring Waverly!”

He wiped the cold sweat from his face with one hand and opened the wooden chest with the other. There were mostly photos, travelling papers, writing quills.

“God, there must be  **something** .” He reached for his revolver and pointed it at the chest. “ _Auspex_ !”

Nothing happened.

He flicked his wrist and tried again. “Reveal your secrets!” But there were no secrets. It wasn’t enchanted—just luggage.

Something itched beneath his collar, and when he went to scratch it he froze in terror. It crept down the length of his body and spread all over the chair he sat on, pooled on the floor around his feet.

“ _Incendio_ !”

The revolver spat out a stream of fire, but the moss was as flammable as stone.

“Why won’t you do anything!” he yelled shrilly at his sidearm.

“Dad?”

He stopped wriggling in his seat, too tired to struggle against it anymore, and just let it cling to his body.

“I hate you,” he quietly choked out. “You’ve ruined everything.”

Tears ran down his cheeks. He turned the gun over a few times. And then, stiff with the overgrowth, he slowly leaned forward and placed it in the open chest. He pulled the lid closed. The lock clicked shut.

“It’s over.”

* * *

Waverly does not rejoin them on the sofa.

“Curtis hasn’t missed Purgatory,” Wynonna tries to say, “but he misses  **you** , Waverly.”

“What kind of place is Azkaban? Why is he there?” asks Nicole.

“It’s… a prison.”

That finally gets Waverly’s attention. She turns her head in their direction, eyes wide. “Uncle Curtis is in  **prison** ?”

Wynonna makes a face. “None of Dad’s ancient crap could help. But there’s this bank in London where they’ve got stuff that’s even  **more** ancient… Ancient enough that if you try to steal it, you get sent to the worst prison in the magic world.” She scrunches her nose, prepares herself for a scolding from Waverly.

“You robbed a bank?” Waverly exclaims, jumping to her feet. ”Wynonna! That’s  awesome! ”

Wynonna reflexively throws her hands up in defense. “Ah! We didn’t rob the bank! Only  **tried**  to rob the bank!” Then she blinks when her brain catches up to what Waverly just said. “Wait. You think that’s awesome?”

Both her and Nicole stare at Waverly in confusion.

“It’s not awesome that he’s in prison. Isn’t it horrible?” stammers Nicole. She turns to Wynonna. “And if Curtis is stuck in the UK, then what are you doing here in Purgatory?”

Wynonna hefts the giant revolver. “I need this to bust him out.”

Waverly practically shouts in excitement. “You’re gonna magic prison break Uncle Curtis out of magic jail?”

Since their reunion, Wynonna has spent every moment with her sister arguing. But now Waverly’s hard-won admiration has her preening. “This gun was made out of  **Wyatt** Earp’s wand. Because of course he was a wizard. There’s nothing this beauty can’t do. Dad used it to keep Purgatory safe for years and years.”

“Safe from what?”

“Anything a magic user might be afraid of. Trolls, vampires, dementors. You name it, Dad’s fought it.”

“Dad fought vampires?” The light from the fireplace reflects brightly in Waverly’s eyes. She plops down on the floor beside Wynonna’s chair. “What else did he do?”

“Oh you know, flew on a broomstick, brewed magic potions, drove out poltergeists—”

“Why didn’t I know this until now? Will you teach me to do all of that stuff too?”

The pure hope in Waverly’s smile makes Nicole’s stomach flutter. She turns eagerly to Wynonna as well.

But Wynonna’s smile has faltered, and when she opens her mouth to answer, she looks like her heart breaks. She swallows, puts the revolver away.

“We thought it’d be best for you if you didn’t know about magic.”

“Why?”

Wynonna wrings her hands. “Because you’re a squib, Waverly.”

“I’m a what?”


	10. Chapter 10

It’s the middle of the day and  _Shorty’s_ is empty. Nicole takes a seat at the bar. She watches Wynonna unpack her bag on the opposite side of the counter, lining up a rainbow of different potions between them.

When the bag is empty, Wynonna says, “Let’s start from here,” she points at the one farthest to Nicole’s right, “and go down the line.”

“Wait, am I supposed to drink all of them?”

“Don’t drink the whole thing! Just a sip of each.” But Nicole still looks horrified. She sighs, “Come on stranger, I’ve wanted to try these potions for ages. Could never have Uncle Curtis drink any of them.”

“Why?”

“He’s been fighting his shade for a long time. He wasn’t really in any condition to deal with the side effects.”

Nicole’s stomach clenches. “Wynonna! What side effects?”

Instead of answering, she says, “Do you want to get better or not, stranger?”

Nicole lets out a sigh, but it sounds more like a whimper. Then she gathers her courage and lifts the first vial to her lips.

She takes a sip of the glowy liquid and immediately spits it back out. It comes out as a stream of fire.

Behind the counter, Wynonna jumps out of the way. “Hey! Watch it!”

On her next try, Nicole manages to swallow the concoction, but it burns all the way down. She bangs the bartop. “I wish Waverly was here.”

“Well, she didn’t want to come, so you’ll just have to be a big girl.”

“She seems busy. She doesn’t answer my texts.”

Nicole picks up the next potion. It looks back at her, and she startles. But Wynonna keeps staring at her impatiently, so Nicole gives the potion an apologetic look before taking as tiny a sip as she can, shivering unpleasantly from the way it squirms in her mouth.

She tries not to jostle it further as she puts it back down. She frowns, asks Wynonna, “Do you think Waverly’s mad at me?”

Wynonna raises an eyebrow at her. “ **I’m** the one she’s mad at. Did you do something?”

“I guess she’d tell me if I did. But I can’t think of anything.” Nicole grabs the next one, sipping it as quickly as she can and making a grimace. She’s starting to feel a bit woozy. “Then again, I think she forgives more easily than she should.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your father’s old colleagues at the police station, they’re about the closest thing to friends that she has.” She scowls at the thought. “Waverly is too good for them.”

She’s just picked up another potion when she suddenly gets dizzy and almost falls over.

“Jesus, stranger. You’re a lightweight,” says Wynonna, taking the vial from her unsteady hand and putting it down. “That’s enough potions for now. I think you’re prepped enough for some…”

Wynonna sticks a hand back in her bag and produces the occult-looking revolver. 

“For some spells.”

She aims the gun at Nicole, and Nicole ducks, toppling a barstool on her way.

“Don’t you have a normal wand?” Comes her voice from behind the bar counter.

“This thing is way more magical than any wand I know about. Come on now. Let’s see how these potions gel with magic.”

* * *

Waverly walks into the pub, dressed for her shift. She’s only taken one step toward the kitchen when a figure in the corner of her eye makes her gasp in surprise.

But it’s just Nicole lying on the floor—passed out, by the look of it.

She rushes to her side. “Nicole! What happened?”

“Wynonna…” groans Nicole. “Magic sucks. Goddamn it, Wynonna…”

When she hears this, Waverly’s face closes off, and she gets back to her feet. “Hope you and Wynonna are having fun at least.”

“Wait, you  **are**  mad.” Nicole squints up at her groggily. “Why are you mad?”

“I'm not mad.” She says between her teeth. “I'm sorry I can't help you with your magic hangover.” Doesn't sound sorry in the slightest.

“I don't even drink,” but her jaw goes slack—side effect of some spell, or perhaps a potion—and the words come out slurred.

Waverly's fist clenches. “Well, I need to get to work. My ordinary, non-magical, mundane old work.”

She starts to walk away, meaning to leave Nicole on the floor.

“Waverly, wait! Is that what this is about?” She still aches all over but presses the words out. She needs Waverly to know this. “I don't think you're ordinary at all.”

Waverly stops but doesn't turn around.

“You're the most magical person I've ever met. There’s no spell Wynonna can cast to make me feel the way you make me feel.”

She notices Waverly starting to tremble. Then she turns around, and Nicole realizes that she’s shaking with rage.

“God, Nicole. What a colossal sap. How can you even say that?”

“What? Waves, I mean it—”

“You know I’ll never forget that you said it. But you’re not worried about that. You’re not worried about this town remembering every word you’ve ever said. About this town reminding you of every failure, every little misstep.”

Nicole is at a loss for words.

“I’ve been patient, Nicole.” She rubs a tear from her eye—practically slaps it off her face. “It was supposed to be me. Not you.”

Between her surprise and her dizziness, Nicole doesn’t notice the tears spilling from her own eyes.

“I’ll get out of your way,” says Nicole. “But you haven’t seen Wynonna in years, and she’s only here a little while longer. Don’t you want to spend some time with her at least—?”

Waverly turns and walks toward the kitchen again. “You should go with her to the UK. Take your place in  _the wizarding world_ .”

She disappears behind the door with the sign that says  _staff only_ . Nicole lies alone on the floor.


	11. Chapter 11

“Hey? Are you listening?”

Wynonna tries to show Nicole how to fly a broomstick, but Nicole’s attention keeps drifting toward the light in the distance—toward  _Shorty’s_ , glowing in the night .

“Would it really have been so terrible to let her know? About magic?” she murmurs. She can’t help the accusation creeping into her voice. “Why didn’t you? Were you ashamed of her?”

Wynonna tries to nip the notion in the bud. “Of course not. It’s just that magic users… They’re just as prejudiced as no-majs.”

Nicole’s stomach sinks. “And what about being queer?”

“They’re not great about that either. I’m sorry.” She gives a slight cringe in embarrassment. “Curtis hated it here in Purgatory. The way Dad told it, there was no safer place for Curtis to transition, but he hated being stuck here.”

Without warning, the broom starts floating upward, with Nicole on it. And she has no idea how to make it stop.

“Uh… Wynonna?”

“Shit, hit the brakes! Use your magic!” When she sees the scrunched up face Nicole makes, she furrows her brow. “ What are you doing? T aking  a shit ?”

“I’m concentrating! I’m trying to use my magic!”

“Just think of where you want to be and it will take you there! Say it with me.  _I want to be down on the ground._ ”

“I want to be—”

The broom jerks forward, giving her just a split second to take a firm grip before it shoots off like a missile toward the town, leaving Wynonna behind.

* * *

Waverly retreats ahead of Gus back into the staff-only area, tries to take a moment to breathe. Typical that they had to have the busiest night in their history just after she’s had  a  fight with her girlfriend.

From one end of the hallway, she hears the loud clanging and swearing from Shorty trying to make it alone in the kitchen. Normally they don’t need anyone else, but tonight is just overwhelming. Waverly thinks that he could probably use a little magic—

An alarming crash draws her attention to the opposite end of the corridor, toward the back exit. She swallows nervously, but walks over and peeks out into the alleyway behind the pub.

Lying in a heap on the ground is Nicole, clutching a broomstick and hissing in pain.

“Nicole?”

Nicole groans, “I’ve got to stop letting you find me like this,” and, with great effort, manages to get back on her feet.

“Wait. No one saw you, right?” Waverly’s spins around checking for witnesses before grabbing Nicole’s arm and pulling her inside. Then she turns toward Nicole with a glare that makes her clutch the broom tight to her chest.

“Why would you show up here with  **that** ?” she points at it accusingly. “Just because you’ve got nothing to lose—”

“I wanted to see you.” She nods toward her broom. “So I guess it decided to go find you.”

Waverly’s  glare falls . “You wanted to see me? But I was so… mean to you.”

“I just miss you.”

“Nicole,” she deadpans. “It’s been less than a day.”

Nicole shrugs. “It’s because you’re mad at me.”  Her hands wring  the broom handle. “I’m scared that  you don’t like me anymore. Now that I’m a witch. ”

The words hang in the air for a moment. Then Waverly’s hands reach up to Nicole’s shoulders and gently pins her body against the corridor wall.

“Nicole,” she murmurs, close to her face. “I was scared  you  won’t like  **me**  anymore. ”

So Nicole closes the last of the distance and kisses her, hugs her closer and tries to reassure her as best she can while still holding the broom in one hand.

Just as Nicole feels her heart begins to soar, Waverly draws away. “Waverly? What is it?”

She’s got her gaze turned down. “Nicole… W e can’t share your magic. I love you, Nicole. But I can’t discover it with you.”

Nicole stops breathing for a moment.  _Love_ . B ut Waverly has disentangled herself and is heading for the door leading back to the guests.

“Wait! Waverly!” She rushes to grab the door handle, and she reaches it just in time.

For a second they’re face to face again, but now tears spill from Waverly’s big eyes. Waverly doesn’t seem to know where to go, so she disappears behind the nearest door, which leads to the kitchen.

Nicole is left alone in the empty hallway, heart still beating fast from the kiss, from the words, from the ache in Waverly’s voice as she said them.

**Crash!**

Nicole’s head snaps toward the kitchen. Without hesitation, she barges inside, praying that Waverly’s not in trouble.

She grips the broom in both hands, ready to swing, but she’s shocked to find the kitchen completely empty. It’s squeaky clean—devoid of food, utensils, or chefs. There’s only Waverly, slowly making her way toward what looks like a closed storeroom.

Nicole hears yelling from inside. “Is that… That sounds like Gus?” she says.

“She’s told me never to go in there.”

“But you work here.”

“Shorty always has the food ready for me to take outside.”

Waverly is still shaking from before, so Nicole holds her hand out. Waverly grabs it, holds on tight as she leads Nicole forward.

The two people arguing don’t even notice them pushing the door open. There’s Gus. And the other looks like what Nicole can only describe as a child, except with the wrinkled face of an old man. A huge pair of ears hang like the wings of a bat from the sides of his head.

“You are not an employee,” Gus bites out. “You are a servant.”

“I get my wage in no-maj cash just like Waverly does.”

Waverly gasps, recognizing his voice. “Shorty?”

Gus and Shorty swivel their heads toward them. Shorty sighs. “And now she’s seen me without my glamour. Just great.”

“What’s going on?”

“I quit. House elf magic is powerful, but this is just too much for one chef to take on.”

Gus is seething. “What happened to you? House elves used to care about magic users in Purgatory, before all this Ward nonsense.”

“Nothing  **happened** . It was always wrong of me to tolerate this kind of treatment. And Ward has nothing to do with it. He kept a house elf himself, didn’t he?”

Waverly barks, “No he didn’t. I would’ve known.” The others choose to say nothing. “Okay, maybe I wouldn’t have. But Wynonna would’ve known, and she would never stand for it.”

“Yeah,” Nicole agrees and squeezes Waverly’s hand in agreement. But then she sees the look on Gus’s face turn from anger to a pitying frown. It’s the same face Wynonna made when she had to tell Waverly that she’s a squib.

The room is deathly silent.

“No.” Waverly shakes her head. “They would never.”

Nicole tries to console her, but Waverly turns on her heel and dashes out of the storeroom. Nicole follows her back through the kitchen, into the hallway, out the backdoor to the alley where she crashed Wynonna’s broom.

Even though Nicole is a practiced runner, she has a hard time keeping up. She’s still sore from the crash, and Waverly is pretty fast herself. Nicole decides to do something reckless.

As soon as the chase takes them to an empty street, she swings her leg over the broom, and it starts after the girl almost immediately. However, Wynonna never did teach her how to put on the breaks. They collide, topple over, and land with a thud on the asphalt.

The first thing Nicole registers is Waverly’s heartbroken stare, lying beside her. She’s fighting tears.

“Why am I even surprised? They kept everything from me. It’s not like I was expecting anything from them.”

“Waverly. Of course you’re disappointed. I am too.” And without her realizing it, tears start to fall from Nicole’s eyes. “I don’t know what to think.”

Waverly pulls her in and they cry together, in the middle of the street.


	12. Chapter 12

Nicole threw her packed duffel bag into the backseat of her car. She threw a glance over her shoulder, up toward her apartment and saw the shade still spreading inside. Tendrils of moss made the windows crack.

She jumped into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut, and her cold hands shook as she used her phone to pull up directions to Purgatory. When she saw how far away it was, she paused for a moment. It would take the whole day to drive there, and she had given no notice in advance that she’d be gone from work.

Still shuddering, she peered behind her into the backseat, staring at her bag, gnawing her teeth with indecision.

“Okay… Alright… Got to get it together.”

The sun hadn’t risen yet. She’d have to be at work soon. It was Christmas day.

“It’s just a weird growth, that’s all, just gross,” she muttered. “How bad could it be? It won’t kill me.” At least she hoped it wouldn’t.

Her forehead hit the steering wheel with a thump.

“This is crazy.”

Her phone started buzzing with her wake up alarm, but she ignored it.

“This is crazy!”

She stormed out of her car and marched back to her apartment, leaving her bag in the car.

* * *

The snow has thawed, meaning Nicole doesn’t get any strange looks like she did when she went outside running during the winter. Honestly, it’s a relief. It’s exactly what she came to Purgatory for—some peace of mind.

She runs down the street where she chased Waverly a few nights ago, when suddenly a cat crosses her path. Nicole seems to remember something similar happening before. It feels forever ago, but she’s pretty sure it’s the same cat. It lingers on the sidewalk, staring back at her, and it feels as if it recognizes her too.

Could it be some sort of…?

The moment is over in a instant, and the cat continues on its way. Just a regular cat. Nicole wonders if this is her life now. Constantly second guessing every little thing that’s out of the ordinary.

She returns to  _Shorty’s_  only to find Waverly’s truck parked outside. Waverly is waiting for her, leaning against it.

“Waves, hi.” Nicole greets her with a hug. “Babe, you’re early. We’re not supposed to meet with Nedley for lunch until,” checks her phone, “forty minutes yet.”

“I know. I just couldn’t stay home with Wynonna.” They’re still not on good terms since Waverly found out about the Earp house elf. “She keeps asking about you.”

Nicole gives Waverly’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. “Just a few more days. Then she’ll be out of here.”

“Yeah…” Waverly raises her head and beams at her. “I can’t wait for you to move in.”

Nicole’s heart melts. “Me too. I see… I can see a future here.” At this, she notices Waverly’s smile slipping. “Waves, what’s the matter?”

She startles Nicole by turning away and kicking the tire of her truck in frustration. “I can’t stop thinking about it!”

“About what?”

Waverly starts pacing back and forth, gesturing wildly as she speaks. “I did exactly what I set out to do. I found out what happened to Dad. I found out who my birthparents were. But all it did was raise more questions! I mean, I still haven’t gotten used to leaving my closet unlocked!”

At last, she lets herself get scooped up in Nicole’s arms, a soothing hand rubbing along her back.

“Why can’t I just enjoy starting a life with you,” she whines into Nicole’s shoulder.

“Waves, everything is going to be fine. We’ll figure it out.”

“What if I can’t stay here. You’re happy here, right?”

“We’ll figure that out too.”

* * *

Nicole was stuck in traffic on her way to work.

She’d had a cough ever since Christmas, and it had gotten worse over the last couple of days. Now she sat hacking away behind the wheel—until suddenly she coughed up a smattering of little pebbles.

Only it wasn’t pebbles.

She tried not to panic, but it was getting difficult to breathe. The car in front finally began to move, and Nicole wasted no time pulling  her phone up to get directions to Purgatory again. It said to take a left, so she did. No second thoughts this time. Her bag had been lying in the backseat for weeks.

At work that morning, they would wonder where she’d gone, and they’d never know. She wasn’t coming back.

* * *

The three of them have been driving all day, from dawn until dusk. Wynonna is asleep in the backseat of Nicole’s car, a trail of drool down her chin. Waverly and Nicole sit in front, sharing a  tense  silence.

“Are you nervous?” asks Nicole finally.

“I’m scared out of my mind.”

Nicole shifts in her seat. “Me too.”

As they come over a hill, they spot the airport ahead of them, and Nicole’s fingers tighten around the steering wheel. There’s more silence.

“Back when I was living in the city,” says Nicole, “I  **thought** I was getting by. I guess I thought everything was as good as it was going to get.”

Waverly takes her eyes off the airport in the distance. “But you’ve told me you weren’t happy.”

“I wasn’t. It was easy because it felt like I knew exactly what was going to happen. When you have a routine like that, every day feels predetermined.” Waverly looks at her as if asking where she’s going with this, and she responds, “The funny thing is, it didn’t feel any different when I finally decided to leave for Purgatory. It was so easy to leave my old life behind… Because I had no choice.”

“Are you saying this is the same thing?”

“Yes! I mean, I know how much this matters to you, Waves. It’s as if it’s predetermined. You were always going to find out the truth. And you were always going to need to see the magic world.”

The sunset colors the sky. They park the car and shake Wynonna awake.

“You ready?” asks Nicole while Wynonna gets the sisters’ luggage from the trunk. She tries not to let her own nerves show in case it gives Waverly second thoughts.

Waverly answers by pulling her into a hug, squeezing her at first, but then tenderly holding onto her. “I’m so glad I found you, Nicole.”

The words catch in Nicole’s throat. Being at this airport after so long in tiny Purgatory—the reality of the situation overwhelms her.

“I love you, Waverly.”

“I love you too.”

Wynonna interrupts them. “Hey, where’s your bag?”

Nicole scrambles back to the car and slings her bag over her shoulder, ever the light packer. Before she forgets, she takes a moment to send a text to the one picking her car up. Because she’s not coming back.

Wynonna hands out their tickets, and Waverly takes hers without making eye contact.

“I’m ready.” She grabs Nicole’s hand, and Nicole feels safer than she ever felt in Purgatory. “Let’s go break my uncle out of prison.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! That's the end of my first multi-chapter fic!


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